Queen City Hoops

Slow in the summer

Tue, 20 Aug 2008 23:59:59 EDT

With my recent interview granting me fame beyond my wildest dreams, I have been too busy to post. Yeah, right - there is just little going on (of substance). Yes, the Bobcats signed Shannon Brown and yes, they traded Weaver to the Bandits of OKC (or whatever they are). That will affect this season's win total by approximately 0 wins (and 0 losses). Yippee.

The season will come down to a couple of things: Can Larry Brown teach the team to play defense and can Sean May/Adam Morrison add anything of value? Those are the significant changes (or not, depends on if either happen) from last season - well, aside from McInnis being gone. So, until I see Sean May on a court (and Adam Morrison make a shot), I am not ready to say much about the year to come.

Oh, and I am not going to start doing "babe of the week" or other such random postings just to grab traffic. I name no names - but there are plenty out there.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

An Interview With Me

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:59:59 EDT

No money exchanged hands and no favors were agreed to - yet someone still decided to take the time and do a quick interview with me. Yes, it does make me feel important - no, the feeling will not last, as I will just remember to check my reader numbers. With that said, you should check it out: Empty the Bench interviews me. I may not have the personality and humorous answers of Skeets, but I like to think I represented Charlotte (and the surrounding area) well.

One other thing I should have included, in my reasons for Muggsy as my favorite Hornet:

Muggsy: "What are you saying? That I'm trying to disobey my mama?"
Shrink: "I didn't say that. You did, Muggsy."
Muggsy: "But I love my mama."

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Big Money Trios

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 21:03:18 EDT

Emeka will make approximately $12 million next year, Gerald Wallace $9.5M, and Jason Richardson $12.2M: Combined, they will make $33.7M. The question is, are the Bobcats getting their moneys worth?

Here is a listing of some of the leagues other big money trios, along with their summed PERs, as a point of comparison.

Big Money Trios of the NBA
Team	Players	Salary ($M)	PER	Cumulative (PER/Salary)
Charlotte	Emeka Okafor	12	17.4	53.3/$33.7M 1.58PER/$1M
	Gerald Wallace	9.5	17.5
	Jason Richardson	12.2	18.4
San Antonio	Tim Duncan	20.6	24.3	68.6/$43.1M 1.59PER/$1M
	Manu Ginobili	9.9	24.3
	Tony Parker	11.6	20.0
New Orleans	Peja Stojakovic	12.5	15.7	53.1/$33.8M 1.57PER/$1M
	Tyson Chandler	11.4	17.5
	David West	9.9	19.9
Orlando	Rashard Lewis	16.4	16.7	55.1/$37.8M 1.46PER/$1M
	Dwight Howard	13.8	22.9
	Jameer Nelson	7.6	15.5
Boston	Kevin Garnett	25.2	15.7	61.2/$61.7M 0.99PER/$1M
	Ray Allen	18.4	16.4
	Paul Pierce	18.1	19.6

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Links about Emeka

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 21:40:19 EDT

The information superhighway has been slammed with Bobcats related material the last couple of days, as people opine about Charlotte resigning Emeka Okafor - finally. Here are some of links that I thought were worth while:

Dave Berri weighs in at the Wages of Wins Journal: Okafor finally signs. Considering how much win score favors rebounding, Berri naturally was in favor of the deal. But, not without reservation:

So Bogut and Okafor are both receiving $12 million per season. Here was my first thought when I saw the two deals were basically the same: �That seems wrong. One of these players is much more productive.� At least, that�s what I see when I glance at the numbers. (further down) Now if Okafor can stay healthy, it seems likely the Bobcats will got more bang for their buck. But Okafor's history with injuries - his fourth season was the first time he played in 82 games - probably cost him some money.

Rufus on Fire also takes a gander at Okafor's new money - and then tries to decide how overpaid Emeka is going to be. I just want to put together a couple of numbers and links to offer the counterpoint:
1. According to the Wages of Wins post The Most Overpaid in the NBA in 07-08, the average salary last season was $4.56M and teams paid $1.67M per win.
2. When using PER as a measure, each additional point adds one win over the course of 2000 minutes. In 07-08, Emeka played 2719 minutes and had a PER of 17.4 - 2.4 over average: Using these numbers, Emeka contributed 3.3 wins over the average player. Which would mean he "earned" $4.56M + 3.3 * $1.67M = $10.1M. Verdict - Overpaid by $2M.3. However, in 06-07, those numbers were 2329 minutes, 20.1 PER, and 5.9 wins. Which becomes $4.56M + 5.9 * $1.67M = $14.4M. Verdict = Underpaid, despite playing fewer minutes.
4. When using WinScore to evaluate, an average player contributes 8.2 wins, assuming he plays every single minute of every game. Just for fun, we will stick with that as a comparison.
5. 07-08 for Emeka: 2719 minutes, 0.202 WS48 = 11.4 wins. 3.2 over average. So, nearly identical to what we got using PER, so again Emeka is slightly overpaid at $12M when producing as he did this year.
6. But, same great results in 06-07. 2329 minutes, 0.290 WS48 = 14 wins. 5.8 over average. So, Emeka goes back to being criminally underpaid.

If I was a gambling man, I would wager that Emeka bounces back some this coming season. And, if he stays healthy, I think the Bobcats will be getting the better of this arrangement. Not by a lot, but I do not think Emeka should be considered overpaid.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Cats and Emeka getting close

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 7:45:38 EDT

With some great news to start my day, it appears that the Bobcats are close to resigning Emeka: Sources: Okafor, Cats bridge gap on new contract. That news is from ESPN and the deal is looking like 6 years, $72M - pretty much what was expected when this all got started.

Update: Bonnell confirms it is a done deal: Bobcats, Okafor agree to $72 million deal. The article also confirms that the Bobcats had been low-balling Okafor with deals more in the $10M per year range until some other recent signings made those look ridiculous (Andris Biedrins perhaps?).

I am glad to see the Cats got this done: I said yesterday on twitter that if the Bobcats managed to lose Emeka because of this lowballing, it would remind me of the Hornets and Zo. Since this is the internet, I was promptly informed that Emeka is nowhere near the player Zo was. Missing the point, though: Emeka was this franchise's first draft pick and has been a key component of the squad's general improvement (save last season's treading water). If Bob Johnson/Higgins/MJ let him leave because they would not pay him enough money, would Charlotteans not be reminded of Shinn's cheapskate ways?

It is acedemic now - and the rest of the offseason should be a lot less anxious for Cats fans.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Comparing apples to apples

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:15:07 EDT

If you take a look at the stats page, you will notice that the first two lineups listed as most commonly used are very similar: There is a single player difference between, a swtich of Matt Carroll for Jeff McInnis, to round out a five with Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, and Raymond Felton. Oh, and the other difference is the results the lineups got: The squad with Jeff put up a net plus/minus of -3.0 points per 100 possessions, while Matt's group was +5.6. Quite an indictment of McInnis, right?

Well, maybe. But there is more to it than that. Consider the strength of the opponents played: Because McInnis started a fair amount this year, would he not have played against better overall competition? He probably would have, so I want to look at this in another way - we will only consider the numbers for common opponents. In this case, I mean both Jeff and Matt (along with the same 4) played against the same 5 players from the opposition. When you look at it that way, the numbers change a great deal.

Bobcat Stats with Mek, Crash, J-Rich, and Felton against common opponents
Player	Possessions	Off Eff	Def Eff	Net Eff
Matt Carroll	189	101.1	123.2	-22.2
Jeff McInnis	464	92.5	114.4	-21.9

While this is still not perfect, since both players may have played more or less minutes against a particular opponent's lineup, it is closer to an apples to apples comparison - and the story it tells is far different from their season long numbers. As expected, the offense was far stronger with Matt on the court than McInnis, but the defense was just as much in favor of Jeff, causing the two to be about equal in terms of net plus/minus. While this is by no means definitive, it would seem to change the perception of McInnis at least slightly.

How about a similar comparison between Emeka and Nazr, with the control group of Matt, Raymond, Jason, and Gerald? I have to use Matt, because Nazr came along late enough that he did not have as many opportunities with McInnis. Here are those numbers.

Bobcat Stats with Matt, Crash, J-Rich, and Felton against common opponents
Player	Possessions	Off Eff	Def Eff	Net Eff
Emeka Okafor	149	89.3	108.2	-18.9
Nazr Mohammed	131	105.3	100.0	+5.3

These results were even more suprising to me than the McInnis/Carroll comparison. I know that a game and half worth of possessions is not the basis for in-depth statistical study, but at the same time, it would seem to be enough for a sense of how players worked together. And these results are not in Emeka's favor - at all. Interesting and something else to consider as the Bobcats attempt to resign him?

Last comparison that I want to do is to see something with Jared Dudley. I will use whatever lineup he was on the floor with most and then swap him out for a player in another, highly used lineup. Or not - that resulted in a comparison of 12 and 36 possessions. Not good enough. So, the next one down is: Emeka, Gerald, Jason, and Raymond. The comparison will be to Matt Carroll - let us see if we can have a third suprise.

Bobcat Stats with Emeka, Gerald, J-Rich, and Felton against common opponents
Player	Possessions	Off Eff	Def Eff	Net Eff
Jared Dudley	115	114.8	103.3	+11.5
Matt Carroll	81	124.7	100.0	+24.7

I am glad to see that both of these pairings was actually quite successful for the Bobcats, since both Jared and Matt are players I said the Bobcats should build around (among others). I was hoping to compare Jared to Gerald, but there just were not enough common opponents, mainly to due to Jared most of his minutes when Crash was out.

That concludes this look at apples to apples comparisons - sure, it is more like red delicious compared to granny smith, but at least it is an improvement. It should help serve as a reminder to think about all of the possible causes associated with a number - though I am still glad the Bobcats let McInnis go.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

About me and contact info

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:45:27 EDT

I thought it might be useful to explain a little bit about myself and to point how ways to contact me/follow the blog. Instead of just being an email link, I have changed the contact page to include this info too.

About me:
This post talks a bit about me: Blame Paul Shirley for this blog. Basically, I am a sports fan and a computer nerd, so I combined the two, and started this website.

Not good enough? Ok, here is a bit more. I chose to blog about the Bobcats because of Toastmasters, the public speaking club. What? Well, through my job I had joined Toastmasters (as I do not really enjoy speaking in front of people) and I had to do a speech that convinced people of something. I wanted to convince the listeners that the Bobcats made a mistake in drafting Adam Morrison (that speech was crafted into the first post on this site, The Bobcats Blunder), but in researching the speech, I ran into an issue: There was little on the internet devoted to the Bobcats. Because of my extensive writing background as a computer programmer (read: sarcasm), I decided I should attempt to fill the void, leading to the creation of QueenCityHoops.

Follow the blog/Contact Me:
You can follow the blog through RSS: Subscribe in a reader
What is RSS? Here is a very detailed explanation from a blog I follow: What is RSS? Short answer, an easy way to keep track of updates, but the link gives a more complete answer.

You can also follow me on Twitter. Click here to follow me. I am still pretty new to twitter, but for anyone who is already on it, please add me and help me figure out just what I am supposed to do with it.

Email: You can also contact me by email at qchoops@gmail.com.

Emeka and BYC

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:35:12 EDT

So, you remember when I outlined all those possible trade targets for the Bobcats, as they looked to possibly deal Emeka? It was just yesterday, so you probably have not forgotten, "Is This Goodbye, Emeka?". Well, if you have not read it yet, you can skip it. Why? Well, as Spectre pointed out in the comments, Emeka is going to be regarded as a "base year compensation" player once he signs an extension - and that complicates the trade process a great deal.

As a handy reference, you can review some of the quirks of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement at NBA Salary Cap FAQ. There is a section on byc in there and it should help explain what the Cats are going to have to deal with, if they do attempt to trade Emeka. In a slight simplification of the subject, just consider it this way: If Emeka signs an extension with the Bobcats for $12M a year, he will only be regarded as making $6M when it comes to trading him this year. Again, as Spectre said, salaries going in and out during a trade have to be within 125% + $100,000. So, Emeka as a BYC at $6M can be traded for someone at $7.6M - meaning the Bobcats would most likely be bringing back a far lesser player.

To see this phenomenon in action, check out this trade made using the NBA trade machine on ESPN.com: Matt Carroll for Al Jefferson. While Al will be making about $11M this season, as a byc player, he can be traded for Matt, who makes only $5M. That is the conundrum the Bobcats will find themselves in while trading to find a trade partner for Emeka.

Oh, and trading byc players for each other is practically impossible - because they only count as the lesser value one way. Say the Bobcats resign Emeka for $11M, like the Wolves have Al Jefferson at: The two cannot be traded straight up because going out, they count as $5.5M, but receiving them counts as $11M - meaing the salaries would not be within the $125% + $100,000 range. Confused, yet? Good, me too. And a lot more worried about what the Bobcats are going to do with Emeka. I am not leaning a bit more heavily to the "resign him at any cost" option than I was just yesterday.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Arbitrarian Makes Comparisons, I Find Bobcats

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:10:12 EDT

I just recently learned of the Arbitrarian, with his joining on at Hardwood Paroxysm. After reading his initial post, The Arbitrarian Manifesto, over there (and having to consult a dictionary a few times), I have to say I am looking forward to seeing what he has to say. Enough so that I went and jumped around his old blog - and I stumbled across a few interesting pieces.

In particular, I really liked his piece on comparing NBA players, Toward a basketball taxonomy. The Arbitrarian's description of it: "it's like the entire NBA in a petri dish". That just sounds cool - and it is. 1000 players are grouped based on similarity - in graphical form. I found it fascinating to just look around it and see which players were deemed similar.

And what I could not resist doing was tracking down some players of interest to Bobcats fans. Here are a few of the Bobcats (or people associated with the squad) and who they were connected to:
Gerald Wallace -> Andrei Kirilenko: These two were in a grouping all by themselves, which seems fitting. I guess they may start to separate in future iterations, if AK47 continues to have a lessened offensive role in Utah, but that comparison really grabbed me.
Emeka Okafor -> Mike Gminski -> Chris Bosh: The G-Man I can see for Okafor, but I was surprised to see Emeka and Bosh so closely "related".
Ralph Sampson -> Sean May -> Maurice Lucas: The Sean May comparisons show the problem with small sample sizes. May has been good, but only when he has played, which has been oh so rare. It would have to give Bobcats fans high hopes, though, if May could ever stay on the floor.
Primoz Brezec -> Lamarcus Aldridge: If I was Portland, this would really concern me.
Andre Miller -> Sam Vincent -> Dennis Johnson: Well, Sam, you did not seem to be much of a coach (yet, anyway), but at least you are in pretty decent company here (though, I guess there is pretty good company among former players who make lousy coaches as well).
Darrell Armstrong -> Raymond Felton -> Damon Stoudamire: Not sure how to feel about this one, but both players Raymond is matched with have enjoyed long, solid NBA careers. So, he has that going for him, which is nice.

I have got more, but I think I will leave the rest to you to find (or if you care, you can comment/email me the others I tracked down). Anyway, I thought it was a cool exercise in using stats and I wanted to make my readers aware of the Arbitrarians past and future work.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Is This Goodbye, Emeka?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:37 EDT

According to Rick Bonnell (who happens to be pretty much the only voice connected to sources with the Cats), it appears that Emeka's days as a Charlotte Bobcat are just about over. On Charlotte.com today, Bonnell recounts from his source that with the Bobcats offering a smaller contract than last summer's deal to Emeka, Charlotte has all but guaranteed that Okafor will not be remaining with the team past the end of next season. The full article can be found here, Bobcats, Okafor at an impasse. Bonnell does some further work on the subject on his blog, with this piece: What next for Okafor?.

Resigned to the fact that Emeka is likely to be leaving Charlotte, I want to take a second to look at some of the proposed targets Bonnell lists in his blog.

Shawn Marion of the Miami Heat.
As mentioned, Marion's deal has only one year left on it, at a very steep $17.8 million. The best part? The Matrix is looking for even bigger money in his next deal, a large part of the reason Phoenix moved him to Miami in the first place. Personally, I am not a Matrix fan - in large part due to seeing him on MTV's Cribs one time, where he came off as one of the most egotistical humans I have ever seen. Probably relatively standard behavior for an NBA player, but it stuck with me. Oh, and it is aided by the fact that he would rather chase a big paycheck (and top dog status) on a lesser team than stay in Phoenix, with a very competitive squad. Last thing about Marion: Like Wallace, he is a small forward who has played a good bit of power forward - and does not really want to anymore. Considering the Bobcats would still have Gerald at the 3, not an indeal match.

At least one more player would have to be included in a deal involving Marion, as I do not see Okafor signing an extension that puts him quite into that Marion money range. Would Pat Riley like to take a chance with Adam Morrison or Sean May?

Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In Sideshow Bob, the Bobcats would be acquiring another player in the last year of their current deal (Varejao has a player option for 09-10 - considering how much more money Varejao thought he was worth before signing his current deal, I imagine he will be ready to try again after this season). Could the teams do a sign and trade on both ends? Varejao is similar to Okafor in that he is a limited offensive player who is a good rebounder and plays solid defense. But Okafor is better at all those things, and is more of a deterrent at the rim, so Charlotte would need to receiving another solid piece back in this deal. The only problem is that the Cavs do not have very many pieces to give up, unless they would be willing to include their rookie Hickson in a deal.

Andris Biedrins and Al Harrington of the Golden State Warriors.
I would certainly be more interested in Biedrins than Harrington, though I imagine that might also be the case for the Warriors, since he is their only true post player. Another similar player to Emeka - great rebounder, solid shot-blocker, limited offensive talent. However, Biedrins is younger (3 and a half years) and slightly taller (an inch or so) than Emeka, so it would seem to be tough for Golden State to give up on the youngster, though we are again dealing with a player who is approaching free agency, so another signs and trades, with Biedrins and Emeka signing extensions with their current teams before being dealt would be necessary. I am less intrigued by Harrington, who is flourishing in Don Nelson's system as a big who can shoot from outside, while rebounding little and playing poor defense. Those traits would not seem to mesh with Larry Brown in Charlotte.

Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls.
Do not let his averages from this past year fool you - Luol's season was nearly identical to the year ago, when he was thought of a rising star. The reason for the dip is that he played fewer minutes per game, but his per 36 minutes numbers were almost a mirror of the 06-07 season. The main question with Luol is if the team thinks he has the size to play heavy minutes at the 4 - because he or Crash would be there, and he has an inch or two on Gerald. This trade would make less sense for the Bulls, as they have been looking for a scoring post presence and Emeka is not that - at least not in the Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer 20 point per night mold. Maybe the Bobcats could work out a deal that also helped the Bulls ease their backcourt logjam by taking Kirk Hinrich off their hands?

from the Dallas Mavericks.
Bonnell tossed in Dallas purely because of Mark Cuban. But what about Brandon Bass and Stackhouse for Emeka? If Dallas has offered that to Sacramento for Ron Artest, would they not consider something similar in return for Emeka? At least Emeka is not crazy. I know the Bobcats would be thrilled to add another former Tarheel to the roster.

Lastly, a couple of possibilities that Bonnell excluded, like -
Rasheed Wallace?
Considering all the rumors early in the off-season about the Bobcats trading with Detroit for Sheed, this seems fairly obvious - though I am still not crazy about it, it just seems like something that is probably being considered.

Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was an apparent Lakers fan in the comments of Bonnell's blog who suggested this, though I am not sure why the Lakers need another big with Bynum, Mihm, and Gasol next year. Again, Odom is in the last year of his deal, but at $14 million and change, it would not be hard to work a deal around him and a resigned Emeka. Toss in Adam Morrison to make the salaries work?

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Summer League 2008 - Game 5

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:10:12 EDT

The Bobcats wrapped up Summer League 2008 in big style: A 103-71 blowout of the New York Knicks. Honestly, I am amazed the squad was able to put together that many points, considering last night without Augustin they managed just 67. I guess the opponent played a large (or small, in Nate Robinson's case - I know, low blow with the short joke) role in that: Balkman and Gallinari both sat this one out for the Knicks, leaving the talent a bit thin.

The Bobcats finished with 5 players in double figures: Slaughter (10), Visser(10), Diaz(14), Jermareo(10), and Orien Greene(13). All but Diaz did it with very efficienct shooting and even he was at 5-12, a solid mark. Overall, the team shot a very impressive 50.7%.

Two other very nice improvements: Rebounding and turnovers. As a team, the Cats outrebounded the Knicks 56-27 and that is not a typo. Kyle Hines led the effort with 9 in 14 minutes and then Mustafa Shakur and Kyle Visser both chipped in 7. Looks someone may have mentioned to Kyle that he needed to show a bit better on the board work after yesterday. As for turnvoers, the team was down to 19 - still too many, but better than it had been. Unfortunately for Kyle Hines, he also tied for the lead in this category with 4, along with Orien Greene.

Lastly, two players managed to dish out 5 assists each in this game, Shakur and Greene. Kyle Weaver had a do-nut in the category for the game. The possible points all had some bright spots - the boards and assists for Shakur, the assists and 13 points on 5 shots for Greene, but they also had their issues - the turnovers for Orien and missing 9 of 11 shots for Shakur. Really, none of them blew the competition away this week, so it will be interesting to see what the Bobcats do about a third point guard, or if they will even carry one.

More thoughts on the full Summer League performance of the Cats to follow. For now, check out the box score at NBA.com and please comment with any thoughts you may have if you watched the game.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

The Bobcats All-Time Best Starting 5

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:45:35 EDT

Steve of the Celtics Blog has started up an interesting new series - compiling the best starting 5's of all time for each franchise. As the leagues youngest team, the Bobcats were up first. So, here is the link to the selections for the Bobcats best all-time 5, Runnin' Fives: Charlotte Bobcats.

As you may have guessed, I was asked for some input on it. Also responding were Ziggy of BobcatsPlanet and Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. It is an interesting read - and I thought a couple of the selections were surprising, which I did not expect for such a young franchise. I cannot say I disagree them, but below are all my thoughts that I sent to Steve in preparation for his post:

PG - Raymond Felton - Not a lot of competition for this spot, but Felton is not as bad as fans (and I) sometimes make him out to be. Career averages of 13.4 points and 6.6 assists per game are solid and he is still young enough that there is hope for improvement.
Dishonorable mention to Jeff McInnis - By employing (and playing him heavy minutes), the Bobcats cost themselves from being in the race for the 8th playoff spot each of the last 2 seasons (though Adam Morrison deserves some credit for 2 years ago).

SG- Jason Richardson - I wanted to find a way to get Matt Carroll in this, due to his hard work in becoming a success story out of the D-League. But Jason's first year with the team was just too good to let that happen. The first 20-point per game player in team history, Richardson made the 4th most 3-pointers in a single season in NBA history, with 243. If he played as well in the first half as he did after the all-star break, the team would have had its first all-star representative. Still young and under contract for several more years, Jason is the Bobcats best hope to fill that role in the near future.

SF- Gerald Wallace - 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks. Those are Crash's season averages with the Bobcats. The box score stuffer is one of 3 NBA players to average 2+ blocks and 2+ steals per game for a season - the others being The Admiral and The Dream. While Crash may never resonate with the rest of the league like those historic nicknames, Bobcats fans will not forget Crash. We've had the pleasure of watching him develop as a player over the last 4 years and we've also had the anguish of watching a player earn the nickname Crash, due to his all-out style of play. What's bad about a player holding nothing back? Worrying that the concussions it has caused will shorten his playing career and diminish his quality of life going forward. Gerald, we applaud you for everything you do - but everyone will understand if you dial it back, just a notch.

PF- Gerald Wallace/Emeka Okafor - Unless I am going to give credit to Walter Herrmann for a half-season of awesomeness or Sean May for every so brief flashes of (heavy-set) solidness, there are few options here. So, I would consider the combination of Gerald and Emeka to be the best power forward of the Bobcats. Both have spent significant time here, in addition to the position they primarily man - and both have done it well. Which cannot be said for many other players the Bobcats have tossed out - luminaries like Melvin Ely and Jermareo Davidson. We just need the government to go ahead and approve cloning, and then get with Dr. Mephisto from South Park.

C- Emeka Okafor - Another original Bobcat, Emeka has been a rock solid pillar for this team from the beginning. A model of consistency, Okafor has career per 36 minute averages of 15.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game - and every season he has been within 1 of all of those numbers. With the rest of the team gambling for steals in front of him (Brevin Knight and Gerald Wallace were both among the league leaders in steals in 2005-06 - and all that gambling comes at a price), Emeka has kept the Bobcats defense respectable when he been on the floor, with a career mark of 104 points per 100 possessions while playing. Considering the franchise has a defensive efficiency of 107.8 during its short history, that should tell just how bad they have been without Emeka.

So, what do you think? Who would have filled out the squad if you were selecting. Let me hear in the comments.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Summer League 2008 - Game 4

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:45:22 EDT

The Bobcats took on the Detroit Pistons today in Vegas - and they lost, again. The best part? While they were not quite trying to lose, they definitely were not trying to win, by sitting DJ Augustin for the game. I know they need to get minutes to Kyle Weaver, Guillermo Diaz, and Mustafa Shakur to see if any are going to be viable for the coming season. But throw us a bone here - DJ has been the only Bobcat playing well in Vegas. Help us be excited.

What, I cannot get excited about Alexis Ajinca? Um, no, not so much. Another day and another dreadful game for the Frenchie. 0 points, 5 rebounds, 5 fouls, and 3 turnovers in 23+ minutes. Yippee. Hopefully, the team will actually send him to the D-league early in the year, unlike how they handled Jermareo last season.

Speaking of Jermareo Davidson, he had another solid game today - 8 points, 4 rebounds in 13 minutes of work. Not bad. Same could be said for Kyle Weaver - 12 points (on 5 fga), 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 17 minutes. He seems to be getting the hang of this.

Kyle Visser got a lot of run today, 23 minutes, and managed to score fairly effectively in it, with 13 points on 10 attempts. But that was pretty much all he did, as he grabbed a single board, had 1 turnover, and 5 fouls with the rest of the boxscore empty. As a big man, getting outrebounded by the point guards does not look good. The rest of the players were relatively non-descript, which does not bode well for them either. Still not much creating going on, as Shakur led the team with 4 assists, part of 11 overall. Sloppy play also continued, as the team had 25, with Mustafa again leading the way with 6.

Full box score at NBA.com Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Summer League 2008 - Game 3

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:10:09 EDT

Jotting notes as I watched a much improved NBA.com broadcast (thank you, NBA):
-1st quarter was tough to watch, with the Cats having 10! turnovers. Seemed like during the last 5 minutes of the quarter, there were zero decent looks as they could barely move the ball.
-Augustin is creating opportunities, with little to show for it. 3 possible assists (layup attempts) all thwarted by fouls. Some nice looks though, and his teammates will start putting down more of those.
-Augustin with some impressive finishes around the basket. Will be interesting to see how he finishes those shots when Dwight Howard or Marcus Camby are in front of him, though.
-James Mays catches a break on the foul call - Brandon Wright somehow gets called when Mays had an arm extended holding him off for the board.
-Orien Greene and DJ have pulled the Cats back into the game. Greene just finished another drive with a nice floater. Cats down 1
-DJ picks up his 3rd foul with a couple to go in the first half - struggling to stay in front of CJ Watson.
-Green goes coast to coast and the Cats take the lead.
-Marcus Slaughter forgets that this is not college, commits a foul when attempting to take a charge under the rim.
-Belinelli retrieves the lead with a catch and shoot on the inbounds pass - buries the jumper and gets fouled. He wishes summer league was 82 games.
-And another entry pass is picked off by Golden State - the Bobcats might want to practice that.
-James Mays with the great play - bats the ball away from Golden State at the three point line, chases it down under the Bobcats basket, and finds a teammate for the slam.
-The half ended poorly with Augustin driving into traffic, forcing a pass that was nearly picked off, and the Bobcats not getting a shot off as the ball was batted around.
-Near the beginning of the second half, Jermareo drives into the paint, then spins back and lays it in. Nice post work, SuperJermareo.
-At the other end, Jermareo grabs the board - and then decides to take a few dribbles upcourt before getting it to his point guard. But the lazy pass is picked off by the Warriors. (Yet another) but they miss the layup and Jermareo cleans up the miss. 2 boards, one turnover for Jermareo on the sequence - oh, and a lot of luck.
-Jermareo takes advantage of a bouncing ball under the Charlotte goal - grabs the ball and goes straight up with the hook. Two points.
-Augustin drives, creates a layup opportunity for Chuck Davis, who somehow gets fouled on the floor, without attempting the shot.
-Up to 5 fouls for DJ - still 3rd quarter.
-Weaver has back to back assists - the second a nasty throwdown of an alley oop by Marcus Slaughter while getting fouled. He is athletic.
-Speaking of, Slaughter pins the Warriors fastbreak layup attempt behind the rim. Jumpball.
-Yes, it really is peanut butter - jelly time.
-Greene takes advantage of his offensive success in the first half, and drives the paint, drawing all of Golden State to him, then finding Wallace (not Crash) for a dunk.
-Demarcus Nelson welcomes DJ back to the court for the 4th by blowing by him, resulting in a foul on Chuck Davis. Augustin's defensive effort seems lacking. Scouting report: Demarcus is not a good outside shooter unless wide open.
-Kyle Weaver with the rip - but he forgets the ball as he whiffs picking it up on his way for a fast break. Result: Golden State 3 by Anthony Morrow.
-Augustin goes under the screen at the top of the key, and Nelson buries a wide open 20 footer.
-In retaliation, Augustin drives to the hoop, finishes, and gets fouled. Free throw up and good.
-On the other, DJ picks up #6 trying to guard Nelson.
-Kyle Hines at the line again. I seem to have heard his name a lot. He is drawing a lot of fouls (and committing a lot too).
-Bad team D by the Bobcats - Augustin goes under a screen, and the big picks up Demarcus as he dribbles along the 3 point line. Before DJ can get back, the big leaves, and Demarcus takes the opening to go straight to the rim. Fouled, shooting 2.
-So, DJ goes to the other end, drives, finishes, gets fouled, makes the freebie. Deja vu.
-Kyle Hines just got whistled for his 8th. It looked like he was set for the charge on that drive, but the officials saw differently.
-Augustin pump fakes as the shot clock expires. The Cats are up 1 and do not get a shot off.
-Next trip down, DJ does the pump fake sooner, draws a foul while making a leaner. Are we sure he is not a 5-10 combo guard?
-Orien Greene is dared to shoot a 3. He accepts and wins.
-Bellinelli answers from the top of the key, tied at 89.
-Augustin with a slightly out of control drive, loses the ball, tips it through a defender's legs to himself - then gets clobbered by CJ Watson on the layup attempt. Both are good. 91-89 Cats.
-Another defensive issue for DJ - goes under a screen, gets switched onto Morrow. Morrow gets the ball and goes right up for the jumper, and DJ slaps him on the elbow. Foul number 7.
-After several more fouls, the Warriors have a 6 point lead with a couple of seconds left. So, Augustin does not bother to get the last inbounds pass - resulting in the last turnover of the game for the Bobcats, #26.

Final thoughts:
-A lot of fouls, 85 combined, 47 for the Bobcats. Main culprits: Hines and Davis with 8 each, DJ with his 7, Greene finished with 6.
-Ajinca name was mentioned little: He played 5:44 and had 4 fouls, and little else.
-Augustin finished with 30 on 9-14 from the floor and 10-11 from the free throw line. Not so good were the 0 assists, 5 turnovers, and previously mentioned 7 fouls. While he did create opportunities for his teammates to get to the line, it seemed he was looking more for his own shot as the game progressed.
-Another Augustin note: He was the leading rebounder for the Cats with 6 in his 31 minutes of action. Jermareo had 5 in only 6 minutes of action, then it was Hines and Mays with 4. There were not a lot of rebounds to be had when both teams shot 50% or better, but still do not like for the shortest guy on the floor to have the most boards.
-Kyle Weaver had a solid game with 7 points on 3-5 shooting, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers in 20 minutes of action. He had a particularly impressive layup early in the third that led the arena announcer to say: "Kyle Weaver with the acrobatic shot". I was just glad he stopped saying "Marco Belinelllliiii".
-Aside from DJ's 5 turnovers, Ryan Hollins had 4 in 7 minutes of action, and Chuck Davis also contributed 4. The sloppy play was quite frustrating for large parts of the game. Like the whole first half and chunks of the 4th.

Boxscore from NBA.com

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Summer League 2008 - Day One and Two

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:35:17 EDT

Ok - First things first. The quality of the feed on NBA.com is horrendous. Even worse? Today, there was a insert of the scoreboard at the top of the screen - but the scoreboard was not being used. There are no announcers for the feed, just the arena announcer. Home videos from when I was a kid look better than this stuff. But other than that, it was great.

Quick thoughts then links:
-DJ Augustin - Shooting well, 9-18 overall, 2-5 on threes. Passing? Less good. 4 assists in the two games. And 7 turnovers. Considering his minutes, 3 times as many assists would be good, and he could stand to knock a turnover or two off that total. Considering it is his first action against pros - not bad.
-Alexis Ajinca - First up: He took 3 three point attempts today (making 0). That is 3 too many. 1-7 on day, 3-8 today (but 3-5 from inside the arc, so if his shot selection improved, maybe). 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, between the two games. Considering that was in about 37 minutes of action, I think that can be lived with, as no one is expecting him to be a dominant rebounder right out of the gate.
-Jermareo Davidson - Back to back good games. 8.5 rebounds per game, 1 block per, and 13.5 points, on 10-18 from the floor. It looks like Jermareo is trying to make a case to get some solid minutes at the 4.
-Kyle Weaver - 1 for 5 in both games, and no assists so far. Time to step it up, Kyle, or the Bobcats will only have 2 point guards on their opening day roster.

Box Scores:
7/12 versus Clippers
7/13 versus Hornets

Video Recaps:
7/12 versus Clippers

Other links:
Day 2 of Vegas from Ridiculous Upside
Day 2 of Vegas from TrueHoop Augustin and Larry Brown are the only Cats mentioned
Day 3 of Vegas from TrueHoop And today it was down to just Augustin

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Scratch That, Emeka

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:45:27 EDT

Emeka, remember about 10 days ago when I asked you to follow Elton Brand's example, and sign for less money to help the team? (Here's the post, "Are you listening Emeka?") Well, scratch the part about being like Elton Brand.

I guess you should be more like Gilbert Arenas - never thought I would say that. Take less money and help your team. And I do not think Agent Zero will be able to do something that makes me look stupid for suggesting following his example - he is signed now, right?
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Summer League 2008 Warmup

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 12:10:02 EDT

I will not be able to do a daily recap of the Bobcats' summer league games this year, but I will do a full review after the week is over. With that in my mind, for anything you see and hear next week, just remember: Gabe Muoneke scored 31 points in one game for the Bobcats last year. Who? Exactly.

Take everything good with a grain of salt, and everything bad...well, that is legitimately troubling, because if the players can not get it done againsts scrubs, then good luck later on.

For a bit of light reading to get you warmed up for the week ahead, check out:

Summer League 2007 Report Card - Jared was the best all-around player for the Cats last summer, so that was actually kind of telling. Too bad the Bobcats waited half the season to start using him.

And the July 07 Archives contain all the daily recaps

Enjoy and Go Cats (and stay out of trouble in Vegas).
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

I am sorry, Seattle

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 22:59:37 EDT

The NBA: Where "Our Fans Are The Key" Happens. (Look at the picture).
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Are you listening Emeka?

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:15:15 EDT

It appears Baron Davis will sign a 5 year, $65 million contract to join Elton Brand and the Los Angeles Clippers (story from ESPN here). Whoop-de-doo, right? What does this have to do with the Bobcats? Well, I hope it might act as an example to a certain Bobcats player (that would be you, Emeka).

The only reason the Clippers were able to offer Boom-dizzle such an attractive package (one that will still be a pay cut for him) is because Elton Brand is looking at taking a pay cut as well. Both players opted out of the final year of their current deals, giving up bigger money for the season ahead. Why? Well, partly for the security of a longer contract, I am sure. But, it would seem another reason might have an impact as well: The desire to win.

Giving up a bigger payday to improve the team? A more typical reaction might be that of Ron Artest (from SportsByBrooks):

Ireland: �Would you be willing to take less money to go to a contender?"
Artest: �Oh, never. Not in a million years. Actually, not in 10 million years.�

So, Emeka, who are you going to be like? Elton Brand and Baron Davis or Ron Artest? We all know that you are a valuable player and deserve to be compensated for your skills. We also know that we would like to see a winning team in Charlotte sooner rather than later, and if you chose not get every dime you could from the franchise, we would reach that goal sooner.

Following last season, I made the case that Emeka should expect a contract in the range of $12 million to $13 million annually, based on his comparables. Charlotte supposedly offered a 5 year, $60 million deal last summer, that was rejected. Well, Emeka's numbers did not change much this year, so I stand by the prediction I made then. With few teams under the cap, and Emeka a restricted free agent, Emeka's leverage is lessened. Ideally, this situation will be settled soon, with Emeka a continued fixture for the Bobcats.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

2008 Draft Recap for Charlotte Bobcats - Alexis Ajinca

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:15:08 EDT

A little more info on the Charlotte Bobcat's second selection, at the 20th spot, Alexis Ajinca. As mentioned previously, he is really tall and really, really long - 7-1 height, 7-8 wingspan. Which means two things: He can dunk without jumping (well, almost) and he can block shots (without jumping as well, but as the following video shows, he likes to jump when he does it). Here is a link to some highlights from last season (I think), courtesy of LNBTV. He basically does 2 things in the clip, dunk and block shots. So that part of his game is covered.

From the blog EuropeanProspects, we receive some more commentary on Ajinca's developing game.

In February 2008, Ajinca had probably his best game of the season in the French Semaine des As, in front of many NBA scouts. (cont.) With 14 rebounds and 7 block shots, he was playing like a goal keeper in soccer.

Those are some pretty solid numbers, so here is a link to Ajinca's stats for last season. Unfortunately, it is not the most detailed, but he seems to have shot the ball at 53.6% from the floor, 40% from 3, and 81% from the line. That would indicate that he does have some skill - but does not play in much of a league as I am struggling to find more comprehensive stats.

One place I can find better numbers for is from the Under-19 World Championships from last year: Here are Alexis'. In about 21 minutes of action per game, Alexis averaged 7.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. Not bad, and at least against the US team, a more known level of competition as some other known names are listed, like Michael Beasley, Stephen Curry, and Deon Thompson.

And that is the best of what I have tracked down so far, from non-standard sources. It basically appears that we have a longer, slightly more skilled version of Ryan Hollins on our roster. I continue to be far from sold on this pick, as it seems that team management let a single workout overrule a larger body of work that showed a far from ready prospect.

Related posts:
2008 Draft Recap - DJ Augustin
2008 Draft Recap - DJ Augustin - Continued

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

2008 Draft Recap - DJ Augustin - Continued

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:32:17 EDT

As expected, the Bobcats first pick of the draft is a bit of a hot topic right now.

Upside and Motor likes the pick, does not love it - One reason is because Lopez is not a great fit with the Cats as Emeka has more of a 5's game. Another is because he expects it to mean that Felton will be moving on.

I would be against that, at least for the year ahead. If the Cats really want to make a run at the playoffs, expecting a rookie point guard to lead them there might be a bit much (well, outside of possibly Derrick Rose). Giving Felton another year to play more exclusively at the point might help his trade value - might, being fairly important in that sentence.

The Charlotte Blogcat reviews the draft and touches on Augustin - I had to include for this quote if nothing else: "Chad Ford even calls Augustin an �upgrade� over Felton!? Really? Size-wise, Augustin is barely an upgrade over David Stern! DJ is one of the few draftees Stern didn't have to squint up at like he's reading a billboard advertisement for Gossip Girl and trying to figure out what �OMFG� means."

Another large part of the Blogcats indifference to the draft is that the Bobcats were drafting at 9, and you cannot expect a franchise changer at that spot. I am not sure that I feel totally comfortable with that logic, but if adopting the attitude keeps your blood-pressure low, there is something to it, I guess.

The BobcatsPlanet forum examines the pick - No consensus on the pick, but the reception seems to be generally favorable. Basic sentiment: We needed another point, DJ should be ok. Counter-point: We need a big, Lopez should be ok.

And that back and forth is basically the same thing I am still struggling with about this pick. Is a backup point more important than finding another starter for the front-court? In reality, Lopez probably would not start right away either, so I guess it becomes is backup point more important that backup big.

Bonnell reports that Felton is still the starter - And that comes from Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins...so what to make of the Felton for Lee rumors? No truth to it, according to Higgins.

It will be interesting to watch DJ this year and those to follow, as well as Brook, to see if the Bobcats made the right decision in going small. If this move helps the Bobcats speed up their game and makes them more exciting to watch, that will at least be one positive to come of this. And that will conclude DJ Augustin coverage for a few days on the blog, and I will take looks at the other 2 draftees in the coming days - where there are just as many questions.

Related posts:
2008 Draft Recap - DJ Augustin
Prospect Profile - DJ Augustin

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

2008 Draft Recap for Charlotte Bobcats - DJ Augustin

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:55:36 EDT

My initial reaction last night to the Augustin pick was not one of delight, to say the least. The selection was met with a large amount of surprise and derision in the live blog last night, with a few snippets re-printed here:

Corndogg - Hey, at least this means they aren't bringing back Jeff McInnis. That is a win for the Bobcats in my opinion
[Comment From Devine]Muy interesante -- donde esta el Felton?
[Comment From Mike C.] its never a good sign when stern is the same height as your pick
Matt Moore - I like the pick.
Corndogg - Of course you do Matt, cause he went to Texas. You are an IDIOT!!!!

Oh, and Corndogg told me to step away from the butcher knife - while that was more drastic than an action I would take, I was not pleased at the time. However, with a day to look back on it, I have to say I am feeling better, for 2 main reasons:

1. Corn was right - no McInnis
Simply removing Jeff from the Bobcats roster from next year is good for a couple of more wins. That is how bad he was this past year. I have harped on it enough previously that I will not go back into it now - but knowing that he will not be with the team pleases me. A great deal.

2. Augustin has some comparables in the NBA
There are a handful of players in the NBA who manage to produce despite being under 6 feet tall - Jameer Nelson and Damon Stoudamire are 2. Jameer led the Magic to the playoffs this past spring and Damon has guided several playoff squads (back in Portland). So, teams can win with an undersized point.

3. T.J. Ford
What makes me feel most confident in DJ's chance is another former Texas player - T.J. Ford. Ford is about an inch taller than DJ, but DJ has the longer wingspan at 6-3.5 to 5-11.5. TJ has made his mark in the NBA due to his exceptional quickness...and DJ is quicker. At the pre-draft combine, TJ had times of 11.45 in the lane agility drill and 3.20 in the 3/4 court sprint: Both of those numbers were bested by DJ, at 11.27 and 3.07.

One more thing to like about DJ is his shooting ability - unlike Ford, it is not a skill he needs to learn. In his last season of college ball, TJ shot 40.1% from the floor, and 26.5% on threes. DJ is easily the superior marksman, at 43.9 and 38.1. Granted, Ford is probably the better passer, with slightly better court vision, but Augustin was still regarded as the second best pure point in the draft to Derrick Rose.

All told, Augustin may still not have been the best choice. But he was at least a good choice, with an excellent player to model hs game after hailing from his own school. I will be looking forward to watching DJ fly up and down the court for the Bobcats in the season ahead.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

2008 Draft Quick Recap for Charlotte Bobcats

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:32:32 EDT

At 9, the Bobcats drafted DJ Augustin, the 5-11 point guard from Texas. The pre-draft profile I did is here: Prospect Profile DJ Augustin. Not convinced I am happy with this pick - though I was not crazy about Brook Lopez, I feel better about his ability to contribute in the league at 7-0, than Augustin at 5-11. Maybe I will feel better about it in the morning, when I have not been in front of a computer and tv for the last 7 hours straight. Chad Ford's quick analysis from ESPN:

A little bit of a surprise. We've been hearing all day that the Bobcats are shopping Raymond Felton. I guess this confirms it. They passed on a need (Brook Lopez) to get Augustin. He's an upgrade over Felton, so it's hard to criticize the Bobcats. Augustin has a chance to be special. The Blazers and Kings wanted him and have to be crushed right now.

At 20, Charlotte went with Alexis Ajinca, a 7-1 power forward from France...who has a 7-8 wingspan. That is a lot of length. Not enough weight on that length at this point though, perhaps, as it might be a bit before the Cats bring him over from Europe. Again, from Ford:

Ajinca is 20 years old and averaged 5 ppg in France. In the history of the NBA draft, has there ever been a player who averaged 5 ppg or less who turned into a decent player? Ajinca was a workout warrior, dominating some of the other big men in the past few weeks. And he has great size and skills. But can he turn them into production on the court? He'll likely stay in France to develop.

Finally, at 38, the Bobcats selected Kyle Weaver, a 6-6 point guard from Washington State. Having played at WSU, he obviously can play some defense. And I really do not know much about him beyond that. His numbers from Kenpom are intriguing, as he seems to rebound and distribute fairly well. However, his turnover rate is fairly high, and that was in a controlled offense - reason for pause, but that is to be expected in the second round.

Some intriguing pieces - please add thoughts and relevant links in the comments, and I will make use of them when I do a more in-depth review in the next couple of days.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

2008 SBNation NBA Draft LiveBlog

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT

It is over now - but I think you can view the contents. Fair warning - some posters used adult language, so earmuffs. About 8 hours worth of chatting - and only a handful of happy people.
Follow the live blog here. or the Original of it at RidiculousUpside

Bobcats Draft Notes - 06/26/2008

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:39:37 EDT

The Bobcats add a 2nd 1st round pick - or less confusingly, the Bobcats now have 2 first round picks this year (and none at some point in the future). Here is Bonnell twice:

The Basics of the trade - The Bobcats get Denvers pick, the 20th spot in the first round. They give up a future first rounder. Roy Hibbert=target?

Rick Bonnell fills in the details on the trade - Basically, lottery-protected next year, and decreasing protection through 2014, when it is totally free.

Some thoughts, from conversation with Matt of Hardwood Paroxysm and Ridiculous Upside:
Matt: I like the pick up of #20
me: glad to see they were being active - now it is just a matter of talent evaluation
Matt: here's the best news
they can either take the best available guard and a big man later, or the best available big man and their pick of the best guards available.
me: agreed, i feel much better about adding first round talent to both of the team needs - though i would be concerned with the guards available at 20 - unless chalmers drops a bit
Matt: I guess take Bayless, and then best available big at 20?
Or do you gamble with Westbrook?
me: think westbrook will be there? his stock is like google (well, a year ago)
i'm intrigued by westbrook, but hollingers numbers make me nervous
Matt: I don't think there's ANY way the Knicks take him
and it's going to go Rose, Beasley, Mayo
The Cats have to be PISSED Love's stock has risen
I'm one of the few Randolph desciples, so I'm pulling for him to the Cats
me: (re: love)i am - i hope he manages to fall - not a great fit with okafor - but i think he is going to be good
Matt: Wait, I got it.
Gamble, take Randolph, then gamble with the 20 on rush or chalmers, whoever's left

So, what to take from this? (Aside from that Matt seems to have spent too much time with Sir Charles) The Bobcats have created interest and an opportunity to add more talent from what most are calling a deep draft. So, who will the 2 first rounders be? Bayless and Speights, Love and Randolph (he seems to be slipping), Arthur and Chalmers? I do not know, but I will be glued to the tv tonight, as the Bobcats make 2 big steps (hopefully, forwards) towards their future.

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

I am a link manager - 06/24/2008

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:15:04 EDT

Draft-centric links for today:

The BobcatsPlanet Draft Talk Forum - All the latest rumors, workout info, and mock draft info gets discussed there - so if you want to stay current...

Ridiculous Upside breaks down what your favorite prospect says about you - No mention of my current man-crush, Joe Alexander, but amusing.

Under and Overrated of the Draft - From a blog of the former Charlotte team, the New Orleans Hornets

A WinScores look at the prospects - You might want to print this one out, a bit long, but worth the effort.

Bobcats Baseline looks at the 2nd round pick - Big or small and what might be available?

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

The Bobcats Against the Best - 2007-08 Version

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:45:23 EDT

In an effort to pass the time before the draft, I will revisit a post idea - The Bobcats Against the NBA's Best (Part 1) and Part 2. With another season complete, and 3 new (well, a fair amount of overlap, but freshly annointed) All-NBA teams, now is a good time to see what improvements the Bobcats have made against the elite.

Possessions	Bobcats Points	Offensive Efficiency	Opponents Points	Defensive Efficiency	Net Efficiency
1851	1846	99.7	2050	110.8	-11.1

To paraphrase Jim Murray, they turned the Bobcats into 33 feet of lumps. There is no way around it - the Bobcats cannot handle the Truth...or Black Mamba...or Big Baby Jesus...or any of these guys. And the worst part? They were better against them in 2006-07, with a net efficiency of about -8 points per 100 possessions. Next question: Did they get worse against bigs, wings, points or all?

	Possessions	Bobcats Points	Offensive Efficiency	Opponents Points	Defensive Efficiency	Net Efficiency
Bigs	1072	1072	100.0	1173	109.4	-9.4
Wings	885	880	99.3	932	105.5	-6.2
Points	390	385	98.2	470	120.8	-22.6

To be fair, the "Points" category is composed of Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Deron Williams - all 3 of which play for elite teams, while there are middling teams included in the "Wings" category. With that said, I still did not expect to see the breakdown come out like this. I am particularly impressed by the solid showing against the premier wings of the league. Which leads to a breakdown by player:

Player	Poss (off/def)	Bobcats Points	Offensive Efficiency	Opponents Points	Defensive Efficiency	Net Efficiency
Kobe Bryant	153/157	177	115.7	168	107.0	+8.7
Kevin Garnett	197/195	204	103.6	210	107.7	-4.1
Dwight Howard	317/314	316	99.7	342	108.9	-9.2
LeBron James	238/238	240	100.8	263	110.5	-9.7
Chris Paul	122/118	113	92.6	156	132.2	-39.6
Tim Duncan	118/119	96	81.4	114	95.8	-14.4
Steve Nash	110/112	99	90.0	112	122.3	-32.3
Dirk Nowitzki	132/133	136	103.0	158	118.8	-15.8
Amare Stoudemire	62/64	70	112.9	76	118.8	-5.9
Deron Williams	160/159	173	108.1	177	111.3	-3.2
Carlos Boozer	172/171	183	106.4	202	118.1	-11.7
Manu Ginobili	118/113	84	71.2	120	106.2	-35.0
Tracy McGrady	155/154	139	89.7	155	100.6	-10.9
Yao Ming	74/76	67	90.5	71	93.4	-2.9
Paul Pierce	222/221	240	108.1	226	102.3	+5.8

You know, when I said middling team earlier, I was mainly commenting on Cleveland...but it appears I focused on the wrong squad(s). If it were not for Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant, these numbers would have been far worse than they already were. When Kobe or Paul was on the court, the Bobcats were +7 points per 100 possessions. Even better? When Gerald was on the court at the same time as one of them, the numbers go all the way up to +25.8 points per 100 possessions for the Bobcats, while holding the opponent to 92.5 points per 100 possessions. Gerald Wallace = The New Kobe Stopper?

Wrapping up, the Bobcats were horrible against the great players this year (with a couple of exceptions). Big or small - it does not matter - the Bobcats cannot handle great players yet. The thing to be learned from all of it is that there is not one main hole in the lineup - the talent level of the club as a whole needs to improve and then the gap with the elite will begin to lessen. Until then, take solace in Gerald's periodic greatness (unless he gets traded).
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

8 Ways to Become Champs

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT

With the NBA Finals concluding this week, it seemed now would be a good time to reflect on the successes of the Celtics, Lakers, and other premier teams to see what insight the Bobcats might gain into becoming a contender. As the Lakers and Celtics showed with their success this year, there is more than one way to reach the top. That is unless you mean the very top - in which case, only one way worked this year - but we will assume reaching the general vicinity of the top qualifies as success. So, what might the Bobcats learn from the elite of the NBA?

1. Insert former players as GM's around the league - This was Boston's "Big Ticket" to a championship - Kevin McHale's donation of Kevin Garnett to his old team. Under the guise of winning culture and whatever else it is that sells teams on hiring ex-players to management roles, the Celtics had an in with another team that aided them in the trade market. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they have existed for such a brief time that most of their former players are still playing...though probably not in the NBA: Where have you gone Tamar Slay and Theron Smith? The Bobcats need you to infiltrate the Trailblazers.

2. Convince draftees to force a trade to the team/Have star player demand a trade if the team does not improve - Hey, it worked for Kobe. After "allegedly" (that keeps me safe from lawsuits, right?) forcing his way out of Charlotte, Kobe found himself in a great position with the Lakers. Until he (and Shaq) messed that up. Then he complained that the team was not good enough to win, so he wanted to leave. This forced the Lakers to invoke the Celtic Maneuver, calling upon Jerry West to facilitate the Gasol deal. It took the Lakers all the way to the top (where they were kicked off the peak by the Celtics). Application for the Bobcats? For some reason, players forcing a trade to the #2 banking center of the US seems unlikely. And the star player demanding a trade if the team does not improve? Well, that would require a star player.

3. Draft well - in particular, find hidden gems from across the Atlantic - This would be the Spurs philosophy, with their French point guard and Argentinean ~~soccer player~~ shooting guard. The only obstacle to the Bobcats following the precedent of the Spurs? Well, they do not seem to scout much outside of NC. After drafting 3 former UNC players, in Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Brandan Wright; another player from the ACC in Jared Dudley (I guess they scouted him at the ACC tourney?); and two players who they probably just saw on tv a lot, Emeka Okafor and Adam Morrison, it would appear that there is not much of a travel budget for scouting in the Charlotte Bobcats organization.

4. Trade for a disgruntled star player that another team is giving away - Detroit + Rasheed = Championship...and several trips to the perimeter of the pinnacle. Looking around the league at players who fit the bill: Possibly Ron Artest. A year ago, Kobe would have been an option. Oh, and Rasheed seems to be available again. Though star does not really fit anymore for him. And Ron Artest is just plain crazy. Again, this method would not succeed for the Bobcats, mainly because if the best "disgruntled star players that another team is giving away" are Ron Artest and old Rasheed, then the talent is not there for the stealing. Come back, Isiah. Come back.

5. Have the best player in the league - Cleveland has LeBron - LeBron is so good (how good is he?) that he carried Ben Wallace, Wally World, Big Z, and others to the Conference Finals this year, after carrying a similar crew to the Finals last year. The problem? I just checked, and Cleveland said we could not have him. Not even if we gave them Julius Peppers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and $100,000,000,000.

6. Have the best point guard in the league - That would be Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. Who used to be the Charlotte Hornets. Obviously, this path is impossible for the Bobcats to take, because they would not exist if the Hornets were still in Charlotte. It would create the type of paradox that Doc Brown says would destroy the universe in Back to the Future.

7. Have the best center in the league - Now, that honor falls to Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. And this could work for the Bobcats. If they could find a real life Doc Brown (see above) and use his time machine to convince Orlando to take Emeka instead of Dwight 4 years ago. I will get some of my engineer friends working on that one, pronto.

8. Find a good coach and stick with him - Jerry Sloan has guided Utah for 20 years now. They have made the playoffs in 17 of those 20 seasons. While there were other factors that have contributed to their success, finding a good coach and sticking with him has played a major role in the consistent excellency. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, their new coach is already 67 - and I do not foresee Larry Brown lasting 3 years in Charlotte, let alone 20. The Bobcats will have to wait until the next coach before they can hope this avenue might work for them.

8 of the best teams in the league - 8 different ways to their positions. And the best idea out of it for the Bobcats? Time to invest in serious R&D for time travel. Where is Cyberdyne when you need them?

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Bobcats' Lineups By Month in 2007-08

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:30:07 EDT

Not much in the way of analysis being offered tonight. Instead, I will just throw a bunch of numbers at you, and see what you all make of it. Below is a month by month breakdown of the most extensively used lineups. To be included, the group of players had to play a minimum of 50 possessions together during a month.

Why no commentary? Because I honestly do not know what to make of it. I just thought it would be interesting to see the change in the lineups being used each month, and then how those lineups' performances changed as well.

Month	Players	Possessions	Offensive Efficiency	Defensive Efficiency	Net Efficiency
November 2007	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Primoz Brezec Raymond Felton	275	89.5	95.9	-6.5
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Raymond Felton	114	104.4	102.5	1.9
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	95	120.0	98.1	21.9
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Raymond Felton Ryan Hollins	52	98.1	120.8	-22.8

December 2007	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Raymond Felton	203	93.6	115.9	-22.3
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	170	104.1	115.1	-11.0
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	107	115.0	113.5	1.4
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Raymond Felton	104	93.3	85.2	8.1
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Primoz Brezec Raymond Felton	87	87.4	115.9	-28.6

January 2008	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Raymond Felton	520	110.0	107.2	2.8
	Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	181	108.8	108.7	0.1
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	140	96.4	101.4	-5.0
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	97	107.2	90.4	16.8
	Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	51	107.8	114.3	-6.4

February 2008	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Raymond Felton	112	92.9	93.9	-1.1
	Emeka Okafor Jason Richardson Jeff McInnis Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	88	109.1	116.3	-7.2
	Emeka Okafor Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	85	101.2	115.9	-14.7

March 2008	Emeka Okafor Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	201	118.9	103.0	15.9
	Emeka Okafor Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	179	85.5	118.0	-32.5
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Raymond Felton	151	113.9	102.6	11.3
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	134	101.5	91.0	10.4
	Emeka Okafor Gerald Wallace Jason Richardson Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	124	97.6	112.6	-15.0

April 2008	Emeka Okafor Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Raymond Felton	122	115.6	113.4	2.1
	Emeka Okafor Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	109	120.2	106.3	13.9
	Jared Dudley Jason Richardson Matt Carroll Nazr Mohammed Raymond Felton	53	113.2	130.8	-17.6

If you see something that catches your eye? Toss up a comment. A lineup you want more info on? Toss up a comment. Tear these numbers apart, and let's see what is in them.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Prospect Profile - Joe Alexander

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT

Quick follow up to yesterday's post: I wound up selecting Joe Alexander, as Bayless went at 7 to the Clippers and the Bucks snatched Randolph at 8 (again, see full details at Ridiculous Upside - you can even read where I got defensive of the pick in the comments). Why Joe? Well, I only saw games this past season when he played well, so that probably influenced me a bit. The main thing that really made my mind up was all the glowing things I had been reading about him lately: His work ethic, his improvement over the few years, and his ridiculous athleticism. And he might even be tall enough to play some 4. Intriguing? It was to me anyway, so let that serve as the intro to this prospect profile.

Joe Alexander - 6'-8" SF/PF - West Virginia Univ - Jr.
Quick notes: Has a standing reach of 8'-10", identical to Kevin Love, despite being an inch shorter. Also possesses a 38" vertical. Very nice.

Draft Watch - Hot or Not - Joe was hot, as "His toughness and shooting ability have made quite an impression."

ESPN Draft Tracker Card (Insider) - "Long, super athletic forward who can score inside and outside."

ESPN Stats Page for Joe - Nice improvement on his free throw % from sophomore to junior year, but the opposite on threes. Obviously, not a finished product.

And the KenPom stats - The best rebounder on his team...but that is not something to be too proud of. Strong (or smart?) with the ball, though.

DraftExpress Player Profile - "(W)e need to keep in mind that he's only been playing organized basketball for about five years now" - that is incredible. Also incredible? The picture on the page showing him headbutting the rim.

NBADraft.net Player Profile - "Needs to improve his consistency on a game to game basis. Seven single digit games is too many for a junior with his talent".

Youtube goodness:

Prospect Profiles:
Anthony Randolph - 6'11" PF, LSU

Kevin Love - 6'10" C/PF, UCLA

Brook Lopez - 7'0" C, Stanford

Russell Westbrook - 6'3" PG/SG, UCLA

DJ Augustin - 5'11" PG, Texas

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Mock Draft Time - Input Needed

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT

I am participating in a blogger mock draft, representing the Bobcats. So far, there are 6 picks in, and two of the guys I most wanted to see fall to the cats, Love and Westbrook, are gone. But maybe that is good? Check out Ridiculous Upside for the proceedings.

Here is a listing of picks made so far:
1. Chicago - Derrick Rose
2. Miami - Michael Beasley
3. Minnesota - OJ Mayo
4. Seattle - Eric Gordon
5. Memphis - Kevin Love
6. New York - Russell Westbrook

With the Clippers up next, and Shaun Livingston only just being cleared to resume basketball activities after almost a year and a half, Jerryd Bayless seems a good bet. So, what does Milwaukee do at 8? Probably take Anythony Randolph. Leaving...drumroll please, Brook Lopez.

But does that have to be the choice? Well, no: I am making the pick, and the guidelines are to make the best choice, not necessarily the one we expect the team to make. Which is why I would like to hear some input: When the choice rolls around, who should the Bobcats select? Randolph, if he is there? Lopez? Joe Alexander? Darrell Arthur? DJ Augustin? Let me hear your thoughts and reasons.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Trading For Sheed?

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT

Ok, I have put off linking to this article until I had made my mind up about it. But, seeing how it is approaching a week since it was posted, here it is: Chad Ford comes up with Trades for Detroit. #4 on his possible trades list? Charlotte, with Detroit receiving Gerald Wallace, Sean May, Adam Morrison and the 9th pick for Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. Some of Chad's thoughts on the trade:

This deal would reunite Brown with two of his favorite players from his run with the Pistons. Put Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson and a re-signed Emeka Okafor on the floor with Prince and Rasheed Wallace and you're looking at a playoff team in the East. The deal also would give the Bobcats some future cap flexibility should they want to make more additions down the road...As for Morrison and May? They both look like draft busts right now … but their contracts expire at the end of the season.

Here are few thoughts on this potential deal:
1. The Bobcats get older: Tayshaun is two years older than Gerald, and Rasheed at 33, would easily be the oldest Bobcat (assuming the team does not pick Othella's option for next year).
2. The Bobcats gain some cap space...if Rasheed is only in Charlotte one year. While Tayshaun makes the same money as Gerald this coming season, it will tilt in Tay's favor over the next couple of years. So, for the Cats to get any cap relief from the deal, they would have to let Rasheed walk after this season (unless he was willing to take a drastic pay cut...yeah, right, remember his "CTC" quote?).
3. The Bobcats get better defensively. Rasheed and Tayshaun are both very good defensive players - Gerald is solid, not as good as we Bobcats like to think after his 2 blocks/2 steals per game a couple of seasons ago. Adam, Sean, and the 9th pick? No, no, and who knows.
4. And worse offensively. While Tayshaun is limited by the communist concepts of the Detroit offense (everyone is equal, now that Ben Wallace is gone), Gerald is a more dynamic scorer...assuming he stops shooting so many threes next year. Rasheed's offensive game is getting more and more perimeter based (he took over twice as many threes as Prince), leading to fewer free throw attempts and a lower effective field goal percentage. As for the rest of the players involved in the trade? Adam was drafted for his offense, remains to be seen whether that will pan out. Sean is solid low post scorer, when healthy. The draft pick? Who knows.

Final tally? The Bobcats give up the best player in the deal, get older, possibly rent one of the players for a year, while giving up 3 lottery picks in the process. Hmm...I have made my mind up on this trade now: No thanks. While it would likely improve the Bobcats this season, it does not make them legitimate title contenders. I would rather the Bobcats be the ones to let Adam and Sean walk away after the season if they do not pan out, than have it happen on another team (or worse, they get traded and actually contribute). I will keep our question marks, Chad Ford, and Detroit can keep their exclamation point, in Rasheed (what kind of punctuation would Tayshaun be?).
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Prospect Profile - D.J. Augustin

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:30:30 EDT

No outlandish haircuts or crazy dunks to start this one off. In fact, I will be brief, with just a couple of points I want to note before sending you off to follow links.

1. Augustin is short - He measured at 5'11.5" at the pre-draft camp in Orlando, and while his wingspan is above average for his height, at 6'-3.5", he is still on the small side.
2. He is a true point guard - Unlike with Westbrook, there is no debate. He creates for his teammates, as evidenced this past season when he averaged 5.8 assists per game, despite losing one of the best freshmen in college basketball history (Kid Delicious, Kevin Durant). He even improved his assist to turnover ration from his rookie to sophomore season.
Which will matter more in his NBA career? If I could tell you, I think I would have a found a team in the NBA willing to hire me already. So, on to the links.

Links:

ESPN Draft Watch: The stars come out in Orlando - "Augustin showed his ability to shoot the basketball. He doesn't get to do a lot of point guard things here … and those are Augustin's forte. He definitely looked really small out there and doesn't have the explosive quickness or athleticism that some of the other prospects had, but overall, I thought Augustin looked good."

Kenpom's stats for Augustin - What impresses me most is that while he uses so many of his team's possessions, between shooting and creating, he still managed to have a very respectable turnover ratio.

ESPN with the traditional stats - Showed an impressive scoring ability while still dishing to his teammates regularly, while leading his Texas squad deep into the NCAA tourney.

ESPN's Draft Tracker Card for D.J. - "He was dominated by Derrick Rose in the tournament, but who wasn't?" - That is not encouraging.

NBADraft.net and their take on Augustin - Their profile has not been updated since last year, but still some notes worth skimming.

And the take from DraftExpress - Best Case: Better Version Of Jameer Nelson - (sarcasm to follow)Yippee!

And the youtube clip of the night:

Prospect Profiles:
Anthony Randolph - 6'11" PF, LSU

Kevin Love - 6'10" C/PF, UCLA

Brook Lopez - 7'0" C, Stanford

Russell Westbrook - 6'3" PG/SG, UCLA

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Help Wanted - Must Be Tall

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 23:59:36 EDT

A by the numbers look at why the Bobcats need post help
With the draft approaching like a glacier, slowly but surely advancing, I thought about the Bobcats' pressing needs: More quality depth in the post and a backup point guard (preferably one that does not have a fork sticking out of their back and is also able to ride all rides at major theme parks). I think there is no debate amongst Cats fans that these are the main issues that face the team (on the court, anyway), but I suppose there could be some contemplation of which need is more dire. While I will not declare this a definitive answer, one pass of the numbers makes a strong case for Love/Lopez/Randolph/Arthur/(other big man even close to being a lottery talent).

Efficiencies by size
Barring a truly unforseen event, the Bobcats will begin next year with 4 starting spots set: Emeka Okafor at 4/5, Geral Wallace at 3/4, Jason Richardson at 2/3 and Raymond Felton at the 1. Who will fill that lost spot? Well, that is too soon to be answered, but we do know how that group fared this past season, depending on who was with them. But my interest lies in the size of the player that filled that 5th slot. On to the efficiencies:

First group: Wing players
Jared Dudley (317 possessions), Derek Anderson (60), Walter Herrmann (9)

Offensive Efficiency:	106.3 Points per 100 Poss
Defensive Efficiency:	99.5
Net Efficiency:	+6.8

Second group: Guards
Jeff McInnis (949 possessions), Matt Carroll (481), Earl Boykins (10)

Offensive Efficiency:	105.0 Points per 100 Poss
Defensive Efficiency:	104.9
Net Efficiency:	+0.1

Caveat: Remove McInnis (and you are basically left with Carroll but regardless) and these numbers improve dramatically - Just a thought, but the Bobcats may not want to bring Jeff back. Please?

Third group: Bigs
Nazr Mohammed (441 possessions), Primoz Brezec (362), Ryan Hollins (107), Jermareo Davidson (32)

Offensive Efficiency:	96.7 Points per 100 Poss
Defensive Efficiency:	105.9
Net Efficiency:	-9.2

Caveat: None - The numbers are bad for any of these players combined with the core 4.

But what if Raymond got hurt?
If Raymond were injured, wouldn't the team suffer more from the lack of a good backup? Actually, no: Without Felton this past season (making doing with a combination of McInnis, Boykins, and Carroll), the Bobcats struggled, but only to a -8.3 net efficiency. Horrible, yes. As bad as having to play big? No.

Whenever the Bobcats had to/chose to play big, with a more traditional lineup, they got beat down and their lunch money stolen. While there seems to be only a single reliable option in each of the other "weight classes", with Jared and Matt, quantity does not replace quality when it comes to having 3 big men who only seem to help the other team win. Is the draft the place to fill this gap? Maybe, maybe not, but it needs to be addressed for the Cats to take another step forward after last season's disappointment.
Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Prospect Profile - Russell Westbrook

Sat, 7 Jun 2008 21:30:09 EDT

(Photo courtesy of Mr. Irrelevant)

How's that for an introduction? Certainly better than being introduced like the opposition was to Westbrook in these next 2 videos:

A different way of starting these posts, I know, but when you have a picture and highlight clips that good, you have to run with it. Now, on to the crux: Relevant links with my brief commentary.

Links:

A Profile of "one of college basketball's budding stars" - A bif of a fluff piece from Press-Enterprise, but still interesting to read. Encouraging to see how much progress he has made in developing his game.

ESPN Draft Watch: The stars come out in Orlando - (Yes, again) - "If you compared Westbrook and Augustin head-to-head in just the drills, Westbrook would win hands down. However, it's his ability to be a floor leader in the game that teams still question."

Kenpom's stats for Westbrook - Compare his numbers with Collison's...and, like above with Augustin, Westbrook seems to hold his own and then some (not to mention, he is also 3+ inches taller than both).

ESPN with the traditional stats - Nice improvements on free throw shooting and assists to turnovers from his freshman to sophomore years.

ESPN's Draft Tracker Card for Westbrook - "Seems to improve every time he steps on the floor."

NBADraft.net and their take on Russell - They knock him for his lack of size - which is an issue if he is a shooting guard, but he has good size for a point, at 6'-3", with a 6'-7.75" wingspan (see DraftExpress for the prospect measurements.

And the take from DraftExpress - Best Case: Leandro Barbosa (my thought on the comparison? With less 3-point shooting and more defense).

One last video:

Prospect Profiles:
Anthony Randolph - 6'11" PF, LSU

Kevin Love - 6'10" C/PF, UCLA

Brook Lopez - 7'0" C, Stanford

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.

Draft Notes for 6/04/08

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 23:59:36 EDT

Some odds and ends that I happened across today:
First up, a couple of snippets from the chat on ESPN.com today with David Thorpe:

Brett (charlotte, nc): Of the bigs possibly available at the 9th pick, Lopez, Love, Randolph, Arthur, who do you like best to pair with Okafor in Charlotte?
SportsNation David Thorpe: (12:52 PM ET ) Possibly none of the above.
...
Brett (Charlotte, NC): Thorpe, after that answer I really need a follow-up: Who do you like in Charlotte? If not a big, what point guard to back-up/supplant Felton?
SportsNation David Thorpe: (1:01 PM ET ) I'm not sure yet. But they have to take a can't miss guy who also fits with Okafor. Anthony is a top 5 talent with a huge downside.

The full chat is available here...if you are an Insider (pony up the 20 bucks or whatever it is if you care about sports, it is worth it). Honestly, not something I enjoyed hearing (reading)...but maybe it leads more credence to the following idea...

That idea is...the "Charlotte Bobcats should trade for Rasheed Wallace". Rick Bonnell makes the case for dealing away the pick on Charlotte.com (read the full text here). While there are pros and cons to the move, the basis for it is summed up quite simply:

The challenge for the Bobcats is pairing Emeka Okafor with the right complement...Wallace has the mobility and skills to play all over the court. Defensively, he can guard a jump-shooting power forward."

2 weeks ago, the prospect of trading another lottery pick would have not set well with me; however, after beginning to look at the players who might be available for the Bobcats to put around their current core, the idea is growing on me. And if Rasheed is going to play hard for anyone, Larry Brown has to be one of the best bets after winning a title with Sheed in Detroit.

Last but not least, the Bobcats began working out players today. The only catch? They were working out potential second rounders. A full round-up is available on NBA.com, and you can read it here. For ACC fans, some familar names took part, in DeMarcus Nelson, Sean Singletary, and Jason Rich. Of the 3, and it pains me as a Duke alum to say, I would be most interested in Singletary. Partly because he would help fill a need of the team...but also because (and despite Larry Brown's kind words) I just do not see DeMarcus in the league. A 6'2" power forward? No thanks. (I know he was/would be a shooting guard - but I also have a decent knowledge of his skill set and tendencies, which would be better suited for a player several inches taller).

Weigh in by leaving a comment and check out the prospect profiles that I have compiled so far. More to come - I will probably look at a couple of the possible point guards who will be available next.

Prospect Profiles:
Anthony Randolph - 6'11" PF, LSU

Kevin Love - 6'10" C/PF, UCLA

Brook Lopez - 7'0" C, Stanford

Click here to comment/view comments for this post.